A Journey Like No Other
by RoyalPrinceOfMirkwood
Summary: Audrien Goldleaf, captain of the Riders of Rohan, travels to Lothlorien to seek help from the lord and lady, as trouble is rising in Rohan. She meets Ethelinn Galalinde, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn along the way and the two end up on an unexpected adventure together on the path to save Middle Earth. (FOLLOW our Quotev page here: /GalalindeAndGoldleaf
1. A Meeting Like No Other, Part 1

Ethelinn's POV

"My lady, why must you go out exploring so often? You know that your father would worry sick if you ever disappeared on one of your adventurous escapades." Edanir, my private tutor, remarked.  
"Why do you always worry so, Edanir? I am the heir to the throne, yes, but I am not to be underestimated. You have taught me well in the arts of archery and how to survive in the wild, and I do not doubt your teachings. I'm just going to collect some berries and herbs, I'll be back soon enough." I mounted my steed, Pollux, and moved forward toward Lothlorien's gates. Upon seeing me, the two guards quickly drew back their bows and stepped aside for me to pass.  
My name is Ethelinn Galalinde, I'm the daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn. I'm about 500 years old, but in human years, you could say I'm about the equivalent of 23. Many would describe me as a shy and sweet person, but I'm known for my temper. I'm quite skilled with a bow and arrow, but I also use a pair of silver daggers decorated with jewels and intricate carvings. I've lived in Lothlorien my whole life; I like to go exploring quite often, but I have never actually passed the borders of Lorien.  
Once out of the city, Pollux trotted briskly along the barren dirt road toward the deeper parts of the forest. I needed to collect more Athelas leaves for my supply; I had always had a soft spot for caring for the animals of the woodlands of Lorien. I had cared for the creatures of Lothlorien longer and more deeply than any other elf, and some I had specially named. I reached around to adjust my mallorn-carved bow on my back and directed Pollux into the forest. Once into the shelter of the trees, I dismounted Pollux and knelt down to greet the creatures that had approached. Hares, squirrels and deer alike; they came to greet Pollux and I. After giving my greetings, I started searching for Athelas plants, as well as berries to feed to Pollux.  
Upon finding Athelas, I dropped some of the leaves in my pouch and hunted for more. The breeze was particularly refreshing, and I couldn't resist lifting my head toward the tops of the trees to inhale the scent that the wind carried from the North. The chirps of the birds, the chattering of the squirrels, and... crunches of footsteps upon the leaves? As far as I knew, I was the only elf that ventured this far into the forest. As swiftly as my cousin Legolas himself, I instinctively snatched my bow from my back and loaded a silver-plated arrow in a mere matter of seconds. I could hear the string of my bow groan under pressure as I drew my arm back, ready to strike whatever, or whoever, approached. Suddenly I heard a noise off to my right and spun around, ready to shoot.  
A girl appeared from behind the tree nearest to Pollux. I lowered my bow slightly, but didn't lower my guard. I didn't know if this girl was friendly or not, and for all I knew, this could be a planned ambush. I was the heir to the throne of Lothlorien, after all. This girl was not an elf, that was all too clear. She was, in fact, as human as humans can get. A slim build, but she was covered in armor and had a sword tucked into its hilt on her back. Not a normal place for a sword. Maybe just roughly just past her teenage years, but she looked more mature than most. She appeared to be one of the Rohirrim, a telltale sign because of the color and style of armor she was wearing. I was still wary, however; what was a Rohirrim girl doing in the forests of Lothlorien? Rohan was nearer to Lorien than Bree or the Shire, but it was still quite a ways away. There was no way she could have just wandered away from home; the Rohirrim were well coordinated folk.  
"Who are you? State your business, you are trespassing on the land of Lothlorien." I did not know what to expect from her. Then, she spoke.

CHAPTER END


	2. A Meeting Like No Other, Part 2

Audrien's POV

"Audrien?" someone was shaking my shoulder lightly. "Captain, wake up. King Théoden needs to see you immediately." When I opened my eyes, a Rohirrim guard was standing near my bed, his head looming over me. When I strained my neck to look out the window, the sun was barely up above the mountain range.  
"This early?" I asked, turning back to the guard. "What for? Do you know?" I just kept asking him questions.  
"I haven't the slightest, my captain." He said as I slowly peeled myself away from the warm covers of my bed. "He just told me to come and get you. He also said for you to be dressed in your armor, and to come quickly, for you have some business to deal with."  
"I see." Was all I said. I then quickly moved to my closet to grab my armor and sword.  
"I will leave you to get ready." He then bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

I was born 23 years ago, into a typical family from Rohan. My father and mother were both blacksmiths, their names Jurgen and Triss. I also have an older brother, who has been living in Gondor for the past 10 years, so we were never really close. My mother passed away when I was 12, and on her deathbed, she gave me a beautiful necklace; a clear green stone with white gold wrapped around it, placed on a white gold chain. She told me that the necklace will be beneficial to me when I become older, because at that time I was learning to fight with a sword, knowing that I would have to join the Rohirrim soon. She also told me that my father will know when it's time when I become old enough to use the precious jewel on my "travels". I didn't really understand what she was talking about since I was so young, but I took the amulet and never put it on until I left my father with my brother, him going to Minas Tirith, and me walking up the hill to Edoras to pledge myself to King Théoden's service for as long as I am alive and healthy.  
I joined the Rohirrim when I was only 15. The first few battles were tough at my age and have left me pretty much traumatized because of all of the orcs that I had to slay and all of the blood that stained my sword. When I was 16, my father visited me and brought me a new sword. At my first glance of the blade, it was incredibly sharp and had a faint green glow under the light. He told me that it was Elven made from a really long time ago and that it was passed down in the family. He also said that the amulet my mother gave me was also passed down in the family, but he didn't tell me who made it, but he told me to grab the amulet and to wear it while holding the weapon. When I returned to him, he helped me with putting the necklace on. Holding the sword was nerve wracking because I didn't know what will happen. Will I gain a super power? Will nothing happen? The questions stopped in my mind when the sword immediately felt light in my hand, the handle melding into the shape of my fragile palm. I then felt the cold stone resting on my chest suddenly feel warm on my skin and my room which was lit by a dim candle was replaced with a green light which I then realized was from the jewel hanging from my neck. I gasped in surprise, not knowing what to say, but then I looked down at the sword in my hand. It suddenly showed a bright thin green strip of magical light running down the curve of the blade, the green light shining in unison with each other.  
"Give the sword a few swings, see how it feels." My dad's words breaking through my train of thought and my bewilderment of the amazing weapon I had in my hands. I turned to him before getting in my fighting stance and swinging the sword, the sharp whistle of the light blade disturbing the thick silence of my room and the green strip of light whizzing quickly past my eyes. When I put the sword down, I ran to my father and gave him a hug.  
"Dad this is an amazing weapon! I am lost for words!"  
"Your mother and I were confident that you would be able to master the sword's power." he replied. "And since you are now apart of the Rohirrim, you can use the sword to fight against evil." He put both of his hands around mine, my necklace glowing brighter with every speeding heartbeat. "Audrien, I am so proud to be your father. And I am homered to give you this sword to use with your necklace. They both together are a powerhouse of destruction when put together. Use them well, and learn to control them, because they can be as strong and dangerous as your emotions can be." He paused before embracing me again. "I love you Audrien."  
Tears started to well in my eyes as I struggled to say "I love you too."  
Ever since then, I had been the strongest fighter of all of my peers. I decided to call my sword and blade Starblossom. I didn't have a good reason why, it just had a nice ring to it since they both work so well together. All orcs and enemies quickly fell with every strike of my sword that hit them, and I felt happy to serve my King Theoden and make my dad proud.

I approached the King of Rohan who was sitting on his throne, his eyes deep in thought. When he noticed me, he immediately stood up and walked over to me. Before I could even say my greetings, he shoved a note in my hand.  
"I am sending you to the woods of Lothlorien. Give this note to Celeborn and Galadriel." He told me.  
"Why? What's wrong?" I said.  
"You probably know that with this growing evil and more orcs we fight with more of the Rohirrim that fall, we need aid. I am sending a distress call to the elves. Please give this to Celeborn and Galadriel." His speech was quick like he was anxious or worried that the elves wouldn't help, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him, but I had a job to do, and I would see it done.  
"I will not fail you, my lord." I bowed and quickly left the throne room, and to the supplies room where I grabbed food, water, and a map since I have never been to Lothlorien, but I would find a way.  
I made sure I had my sword and amulet with me and I packed blankets and extra clothes into my horse's saddle bag. I left with haste, eager to see elves for the first time. The sun peaked just above the mountains when I left the fields of Edoras, and into the great unknown.

I had been traveling for days. I eventually forgot how many days it has been, but I knew I was close when I led my horse, Felicia, into a wood where I kept hitting my head on branches, so I reluctantly walked on foot. Before I knew it, I came face to face with an elf. She had light fair skin, her dark brown hair falling well below her shoulders. She adorned light leather armor, a typical choice for elves of her kind, and she held a bow made of what looked like mallorn wood, such weapons only existed in ancient stories that I heard when I was a kid. It sounded amazing when people only describe what they look like in such stories, but this bow looked incredible when I looked at it with my own eyes. But I then noticed that there was an arrow knocked against the string, the point turned towards me. I then realized that she probably is seeing me as an enemy. I then bowed down to her and quickly spoke, not wanting to cause any trouble.  
She was the first to speak. "Who are you? State your business, you are trespassing on the land of Lothlorien." Her voice was fair and light, also typical for an elf like her.  
" I mean no harm, my lady. I have a letter for Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. Do you know where they might be? Do you think you can give this to them?" I said, the words quickly falling out of my mouth.  
She slowly lowered her bow and walked over to me. I took out the letter and gave it to her. She paused before looking up to me. "Follow me please." She started walking into the thick of the forest.  
"Wait, where are you taking me?" I asked. She did not answer. So I followed her, making sure to bring Felicia with me.

CHAPTER END


	3. A Message for the Lord

Ethelinn's POV

We walked in silence for a minute or so, I was usually polite and talkative with strangers, but those were elven strangers. This was a different matter, this was a Rohirrim girl; a human. I wasn't sure how I should act, but I finally gave in and decided to speak.  
"You are brave, traveling all the way from Rohan, Rohirrim. I recognize your style of armor, you are one of the riders."  
"Yes, that's correct. I come with a crucial letter for the lord and lady. I am Audrien Goldleaf, captain of the Riders of Rohan." It did not surprise me when she stated that she was a rider, but I became interested when she told me she was the captain.  
"Mae govannen, Audrien Goldleaf. I am Ethelinn Galalinde, heir to the throne of Lothlorien. You are quite fortunate that it was me you found while wandering the forest, and not one of the guards; they would have shot you immediately on sight."  
"And I thank you for that, my lady." I turned to smile at Audrien. I now believed that her word was true, and she meant no harm. I knew that we had to reach the gates as soon as possible, for it must be a dire situation for a human to come to Lothlorien.  
"There is no need to call me that, just Ethelinn will do. To tell you the truth, I'm not as fond of being called by a royal title so much as my mother and father are. Oh, how my father angers when he is not addressed by his title when spoken to by a commoner!"  
"And you may call me Audrien. You are the daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn then, if I am not mistaken?"  
"Yes, that is correct. I am 23 and a half in terms of human years, but I am 500 years old in Elven years."  
"I see, I am also 23. In human years, of course." We continued to exchange little bits and pieces of small talk, but never carried on a full-fledged conversation. Suddenly, I heard noises. I paused, and so did she; I could tell that she could hear them too. Before either of us had a chance to determine where the sounds were coming from, five or six orcs appeared in front of us and stopped us in our tracks.  
"Lookie here, if it isn't elf scum! And what's this; a Rohirrim in Lothlorien? It ain't matter, we'll kill ya' both. Get 'em, boys!" I cursed quietly under my breath; Edanir had always told me that it was impolite to curse in the presence of a stranger, but even more so if you are the heir to the throne.  
"Well, I hope you know how to fight, Audrien Goldleaf!"  
"Fighting? It's what I train for." she unsheathed a beautiful sword, and I could instantly tell that it was elven-made. Where it came from, however, I did not know. She rushed the orcs and instantly decapitated the nearest one. Her fighting style was unique, I had never seen anything of the sort. Of course, she was a human and I did not know of their techniques. Yet still, it was something I would not have expected from a human. With the speed that elves are known for, I knocked an arrow into the groove of my bow and pulled back.  
"On your right!" I called out, as I sent the arrow whizzing towards an orc. Audrien side-stepped out of the way with ease, allowing my arrow to go sailing into the heart of the beast. Realizing that the orcs were advancing in on us, I slung my bow over my shoulder and quickly unsheathed my two daggers. I had always preferred using daggers over a sword in a fight. I knew how to use a sword, but when you're carrying a bow, daggers are much more practical. My daggers were made of elven silver with fine intricate designs etched into the metal. Without notice, I flew past Audrien and simultaneously sunk both daggers into the chest of one of the orcs. With a grunt he dropped to the ground, dead as a door-nail. Audrien soon killed the last orc with a swing of her sword. I looked to the ground at the pile of orc bodies that lay before us. I glanced at Audrien, who looked just about as antsy as I was.  
"We should hurry along swiftly, if we encounter more orcs it could prove to be a problem."  
"I agree, let us carry on." We hardly spoke the rest of our way through the forest; we were too busy listening for orcs to make time for small talk. After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the main road.  
"It is safe to ride now, if you wish to ride your steed." I smiled gently as I hoisted myself onto Pollux's back. The black stallion whinnied and gave a small snort. I laughed and patted his head before grabbing onto the reigns.  
"Is Caras Galadhon far from here?" Audrien asked. I shook my head.  
"Not far at all, it is a mere half of a mile." After riding for some time, we approached the gates of Caras Galadhon. The two guards greeted me as we drew near.  
"Good day, lady Ethelinn. Who is this, perchance?"  
"She is Audrien Goldleaf, captain of the Riders of Rohan. Please tell Edanir that I will be late for archery, I must speak with my father immediately."  
"It shall be done, my lady." one of the guards said and stepped aside to let us through. We stepped through the gates and instantly I felt at home; the elves were laughing and talking, the birds chirped in the flets of the mallorn trees, everything was in order here, and that's the way I liked it.  
"Follow me, if your message is dire then we shall not want to waste a single moment." I led Audrien up to the base of the flet where the throne room stood. We climbed the wooden staircase and, as if on cue, my father appeared at the top of the flet.  
"Ethelinn, why were you out so long? I almost sent Edanir to come looking f-" he stopped in mid-sentence as he realized that there was a member of the Rohirrim standing beside me. "Ah, I see that you have company. Tell me, what is the captain of the Riders of Rohan doing in Lothlorien?" he obviously knew who Audrien was, but how he knew, I couldn't say.  
"My lord, I come from Rohan, as you already know, and I bring with me a message of dire news."

CHAPTER END


	4. Beginning the Road Back Home

Audrien's POV

Celeborn is familiar with me since he has sent the elves of Lothlorien to help Rohan before, and he has heard of me, but we never met in person. I handed him the written note King Théoden gave to me, my hand slightly shaking.  
"My Lord Théoden requests the aid of the elves against the fight of evil." I said while bowing down to him politely.  
He studied the note with an expressionless look on his strong elven features. Lady Galadriel looked at me the whole time, but I didn't want to lock eyes with her. This was a serious subject, and I wanted to be back home as soon as possible, with a positive answer from Celeborn. When he looked back to me, I stood back up, waiting for his answer.  
"Give me some time to think about it. I know Rohan is in dire need, but I cannot send too many of my army to possibly their death." His crystal blue eyes bore into mine. He sighed. "I will have my answer in the morning." He then turned to me and Ethelinn. "You should get some rest Captain. You have been traveling all day. Ethelinn, show her to her room. And make sure she is comfortable."  
"It shall be done." She answered. "Come on, I will show you around." I grabbed my horse's reins and followed. In my mind, I was excited to spend the night in the most beautiful woods in Middle Earth, but I was feeling homesick. I wanted to see my friends again. I wanted to see my father and give him a hug.  
As Ethelinn and I walked down the long spiral of stairs and down to the forest floor, I could feel Galadriel was still watching me, and it made me feel uneasy. I tried to not let that bother me and I looked around, taking in the haunting beauty of Lothlorien. The trees climbed high to the night sky, most of them housing other Lorien elves, with spots of blue lights ghosting the air, giving the forest a faint blue glow. Little streams of clear water ran in between the thick tree trunks and ran down farther than the eye can see.  
Ethelinn and I talked little, but she eventually asked me about my past and how I became the captain of the Rohirrim. I explained all I could, and she was fascinated with every word. "So you have been fighting ever since you were little?"  
"Ever since I could hold a sword." I said. "But I have been in the Rohirrim since I was 15. I became the captain when I was 20."  
"And you're 23 now." She replied. I nodded. We didn't talk more because we were at a very old tree with a platform on top. I imagined it was where I would rest for the night, and it was.  
"This is my home, but you will rest here, if that's ok." She said, turning to me.  
"Oh, that's fine. This is a wonderful home you have." I said back, smiling.  
She laughed. "Thanks. This is actually my family's home, but I am the only one who uses it now. You can tie up your horse over here." She walked over to a nearby tree with a strong branch sticking out. I followed her and tied up Felicia, then gave her an apple. I stroked her nose before walking over to Ethelinn where she walked up a staircase and up to the 1st floor of the tree home.  
In the elf home, everything was one color, but it had everything an elf would need. The house had a sense of warmth even though I had to keep telling myself I was still outside, and there were no walls in the room. Ethelinn walked another set of stairs to the 2nd floor of the house was located, and I followed. This floor was where a rather big bed was placed. The light purple blankets and sheets placed nicely on the mattress, with two big and fluffy pillows placed at the head of the bed.  
"I hope this is suitable for you." Ethelinn spoke, her soft elven voice breaking my train of thought.  
"Yes, this will do just fine, thank you." I bowed my head in appreciation of her kindness for me borrowing her room for the night.  
She smiled. "Do you have any other clothes than your armor?" She asked.  
I realized I only had under armor to wear, and that's not really comfortable or practical for a place like this. "Unfortunately, I don't."  
"That's ok, I have some clothes for you to borrow if you'd like." She walked over to her closet and pulled out a white satin night gown, then walked back over to me. "Will this do?" She handed the night gown to me.  
"Yes, this is so generous of you!" I said, running my fingers over the soft fabric.  
"It's really no problem! My only wish is for you to be comfortable." She replied. I removed my top layer of heavy armor, finally being able to breathe properly. She gestured her hands out for me to hand her my armor so she can keep it in safe keeping. I handed her my heavy armor, but she noticed my necklace before she could walk away. "What's that?" Starblossom glowed at her remark, and her eyes widened. "It glows?!"  
"It's my necklace called Starblossom. It glows according to my emotions and how strong they are." I said, a nervous smile tugging on my cheeks.  
Ethelinn reached out her hand to touch it. "That's fascinating! And it looks like elven make, am I wrong?"  
"I would think so, but I don't even know myself." I said laughing. "It is very old, and it's been in the family for a long time."  
"Wow! That is an incredible piece of jewelry, I hope you find out who made it soon! I would be curious to find out." Ethelinn walked back over to the closet and hung up my armor. "Well, I hope you have a good nights sleep, I will wake you up in the morning when it's time for you to depart."  
I nodded. "Thanks again for everything Ethelinn." I said removing my sword hilt and started changing into the soft night clothes.  
"No problem. See you in the morning." She walked back down the stairs, and I looked around a little before climbing into the warm sheets and letting my muscles relax into the mattress, my eyelids closing. The hustle and bustle of quiet night elves ended up lulling me right to sleep.

I was in a deep sleep when Ethelinn shook me awake. "Wake up Audrien, the sun's rays have stretched above the horizon and are seeping through the leaves in the trees." I smiled at her remark, and slowly slipped out of the soft covers. "I will leave you to get changed into your armor, and there is breakfast waiting for you downstairs, okay?"  
I yawned. "Ok, I'll be down in a minute." I changed into my armor, strapped on my sword, and walked downstairs where a bowl of fruit, slices of bread, and a glass of clear cold water was placed on the table. I sat in a nearby chair and ate the food rather quickly, since I didn't eat that much yesterday.  
"Lord Celeborn is ready to see you when you are done." Ethelinn said. "He said he has an answer for King Theoden for you to give him." I nodded and swallowed my last bite of food and grabbed an apple I didn't eat before heading out, unleashing Felicia and feeding her the apple for her breakfast.  
"Good morning Felicia, are you ready for another day of hard riding?" Felicia was a white stallion with big black spots covering her body and on her snout. I have had her since I joined the Rohirrim, and I had formed a great relationship with her. She is my best buddy. I stroked her nose and she quietly snorted in reply.  
I grabbed Felicia's reins and led her back to the long winding staircase where I left her at the bottom of the stairs, and I began the long climb. When I reached the top, Celeborn was quietly waiting for me, his tall slender form illuminated by the filtered cold morning sunlight. He had a letter in his hand, but it was different to the one I gave him before.  
"I have an answer for King Theoden." He handed his letter to me. It had a red wax seal closing it shut. "I am willing to send some of my army to Edoras to help with the good fight. Besides, we are all fighting the same enemy, aren't we?"  
"That is true, my Lord." I replied. "But I thank you either way. Any help is appreciated."  
He nodded. "Now, head back to King Theoden, I am sure he is anxious to see you."  
I bowed and quickly walked back down the stairs, and back to Felicia who was fidgety, probably ready to race back through the forests and fields to get her heart pumping, and honestly, I was ready to head back too. I put the note in my saddle bag and mounted Felicia. I then raced out of the calm and quiet forest of Lothlorien. When I got to the gates, I was stopped by a voice.  
"Audrien! Wait!" I heard Ethelinn's voice call out. I turned Felicia around. Ethelinn was on her horse. Weird.  
"Ethelinn what are you doing? I can't waste any time!" I said.  
"What are you talking about? I am coming with you!" She smiled.  
"But I thought you-"  
"Don't worry, I convinced Edanir that I could come with you. I just want to help you on your way back. Just in case you run in to any Uruk-hai. Some of our scouts said that they are close to our area. You can't be too careful."  
I thought about it for a minute, but I then realized that she is offering me free help, and I have learned to like Ethelinn and how she can be a good travel partner. "Ok, let's go." I smiled. "Race you to that tree over there!" I pointed to a tree about 30 meters away, and Felicia immediately bolted to the tree with a subtle kick of my legs to her sides.  
"Hey! Wait up! That's not fair! You got a head start!" I heard her voice get farther away, then at about half way there, her horse's hooves quickly caught up to me. When she surprisingly passed me, I watched her slowly stand on her horse's saddle, gain her balance, then jump quickly and skillfully onto a branch on the targeted tree. I slowed Felicia to a stop and looked at her in amazement. She had a smug look on her face as she crossed her arms, clearly trying to rub it in my face. "I believe I won that race." She said.  
"You get out way too much." I said. "Come on, we have a quest to finish." She lightly and quietly hopped back onto her horse's saddle, and caught up to me.

After riding for about only 20 minutes, we had been walking on foot since the branches were too low for horse back. Until Ethelinn stopped us.  
"I hear movement in the bushes. Tread lightly." She looked around, keeping an eye out for enemies. I couldn't hear anything, but Ethelinn was proved to be right when a pack of Uruk-hai suddenly jumped out of some nearby bushes. One lunged towards me, but I dodged him just before he could bury his sword into me. They were just like orcs, but these were bigger, stronger, and faster. This was the first time I had to fight one. Or a dozen, in this case.  
I unsheathed my sword and got right to slashing. Ethelinn pulled out her bow and shot some Uruk-hai from a distance. I eventually had 3 Uruk-hai's in front of me, where Ethelinn was now using her daggars to kill 2 that were trying to kill her, so she couldn't help me. I stabbed one under his neck, killing him instantly, then I had to distract another before killing the third. I ended up kicking one in the stomach, knocking the air out of him and pushing him back to save me some time. I then immediately chopped the arm off the third Uruk-hai and he dropped like a fly. Then I jumped in the air and plunged my sword into the chest of the Uruk- hai on the ground.  
I then joined Ethelinn in killing a few more, but they just kept coming. "There's too many Ethelinn! We can't kill them!"  
"Just keep going!" She cried before killing 2 more. But she didn't see the Uruk-hai coming at her who swung his sword at her chest, giving her devastating chest blow and probably a rib or lung injury. She cried out in pain before decapitating the Uru-hai and collapsing onto the ground.  
"Ethelinn!" I cried out. I couldn't run over to her since I had been battling a tough Uruk-hai. He kept deflecting my attacks. But he got a strong attack to my right leg before I could block him. The attack ripped open my armor and left a deep gash that went down my leg. I cried out, my mind clouded with pain and shock, Starblossom burning against my chest. My body dropped to the floor and my hand immediately clenched my leg, trying to stop the incredible amounts of blood that was escaping my body. The Uruk-hai that stood before me grunted and lifted his sword to end my life, and all I could think was "Just do it. End my life already."  
But before he could lower his sword, a huge wolf creature with white fur clenched his teeth around his neck, tackling him to the ground. I propped myself up on one arm to watch, never seeing a creature like this before. The wolf bit down so hard that it tore the head off of the helpless Uruk-hai, blood spurting out of his neck, staining the wolf's white fur. 2 other wolves leaped out of the bushes and fluently killed the rest of the Uruk-hai, these ones with grey fur. As the wolves were effortlessly slaying the rest of the enemies, I shifted to Ethelinn to see if she was still alive. She was, but she couldn't breathe.  
"Stay with me Ethelinn. You will be ok." I said, tears welling in my eyes. The noises of blood spilling stopped and the white wolf approached me, my sword in its mouth. It placed my sword in my hand, and took a few steps back. Then it morphed into a human. I gasped and thought my mind was so clouded that I mistook the human as a wolf, but then he spoke.  
"I don't mean to harm you, I am a human and a wolf. I am not an enemy." He crouched down next to me and Ethelinn, then spoke to the other wolves - who morphed into humans as well - in a language I have never heard of before. They looked a lot like he did, but a little younger it seemed. When he spoke to them, he must have ordered one to care for Ethelinn, and the other to care for me. The man who sat next to Ethelinn had dark eyes, a tan skin color, and bright blonde hair with no bangs parted down the middle of his head. He pressed his hands onto Ethelinn's chest. She yelped in pain, but he told her to calm down.  
"Don't worry, I am here to help. I am a skilled healer." He smiled reassuringly. She nodded and occasionally cried out when his long and slender fingers hit a spot where the most damage had been done. After a few minutes of him pressing his fingers into Ethelinn's chest, he came to a conclusion. "She has severe chest and rib injuries, but no broken ribs."  
"Ok, thank you Sehun." The 1st man replied. He turned to the man sitting next to me. "Try to close her leg wound, Luhan." He told him. Luhan took out leaves which I imagined were healing herbs, but I didn't know which ones. He ripped up the leaves and gently placed them in the flesh of the deep gash, blood trying to wash them out. The pain rised up again and I threw my head back, trying to take in deep breaths. I then looked at the young man by the name of Luhan, and he looked at me.  
"You are a trooper. You must be used to the pain, right?" His voice was soft and fluid to match the youth in his face. His eyes were big and light brown, his cheeks a little rosy, but the same tan color as Sehun and the other young man. His hair was light brown and combed slightly up and over to the side. I nodded at his remark as he wrapped a bandage around my leg, trying to close the wound. He skillfully wrapped it, closing the gash, tying it not too tight, but tight enough to keep itself in place. When he was done, he told the other man "She has a pretty big gash Kris, I worry that the sword that pierced her had poison in it, or so much dirt on it that the wound has to be thoroughly cleaned."  
"Fine. We must take them both back to camp and alert the others about the attack." He walked over to my sword, put it back in its sheath, and looked to me. His face was longer, his hair in the style of Luhan's, but the color of Sehuns, and his voice was lower, more mature. "In case you were wondering, my name is Kris, and this is Sehun, and Luhan." He gestured to the other men who nodded when he said their names. I looked to Ethelinn, who was sitting up and obviously listening, but she didn't say anything in reply, so I introduced us.  
"I'm Audrien, and this is Ethelinn." I pointed my head to Ethelinn and she smiled.  
"It's nice to meet you both. I will save the talking for when we get back to our camp, ok?"  
"Ok." I was worried if I should trust them, but my body was hurting so badly, and I was feeling dizzy, so I had no choice.  
"Luhan, carry Audrien. Sehun, carry Ethelinn." Luhan picked me up, his right arm holding my upper body and my legs draped over his left arm, same with Sehun and Ethelinn.  
My leg was still throbbing when they took off running at an incredibley fast speed for humans, but my eyes eventually were filled with purple stars with my head spinning. I eventually passed out in Luhan's arms, not knowing where I will end up when I awake.

CHAPTER END


	5. Regret and Meeting the Shapeshifters

ETHELINN'S POV

I awoke to the chirping of birds, but I didn't recognize what species they were. This was odd, since I knew the call of every bird near home. Then, I remembered. The pang of realization hit me; I wasn't at home anymore. I had left to accompany Audrien, and we had suffered an orc attack. Uruk-hai, to be exact. Why, I began to wonder, was I lying in a heap of grass? I tried to lift myself up, but a sharp jolt of excruciating pain tore through my chest as I made my attempt; I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out in pain. I tilted my head forward to see a bloodied bandage covering most of my stomach. I remembered now, one of the Uruk-hai had swiped at my stomach with a sword. I was lucky to be alive, in fact. Judging by the exact location of the pain, he could have cut down to my spine. At least Edanir's first aid lessons were handy for something, even if I had never needed them before now. My first instinct was to look around for Athelas leaves; if I could just get my hands on a few, I could make a remedy for my gash. I wondered how much the wolves who had rescued me knew about healing. I felt ashamed at having to be rescued; I was the heir to Lothlorien and I had been given the official title of "High Warden Ethelinn Galalinde, Evasive Artist" by Haldir and my father, pronouncing me one of the most skilled warriors of Lothlorien. I was known for being quick on my feet and I had never been more than grazed by an enemy blade or arrow. But now... this was the first time I had ever received a fatal injury like this. This was the first time I had ever failed. I had taught myself not to shed tears, and I had never done so ever since I was born. But I had never experienced a loss so great as this one, and for the first time in 500 years, I felt a small teardrops begin to tumble from my eyes.

I realized that I was being selfish; crying was for weaklings and I had never been a weakling, I was a well-known huntress. Before, I would have been disgusted at the mere thought of it. But now, I didn't even know if I was even worthy of my title. "Man up, Ethelinn," I whispered to myself. "No one wants to join your selfless pity-party." Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I staggered to my feet, ignoring the instant pain that ripped through my body as I did so. I knew I needed to at least try to heal myself. I had already tried using my magic, but I was so weak from my injury that I could hardly conjure anything more than a small little flame in the palm of my hand; something that elf children were taught at an extremely young age. My magic had never been so depleted in my life, so it was completely worthless to try and heal myself; I would need to do this the traditional way. Slowly making my way over to a nearby tree, my heart leaped as I recognized the familiar leaves of an Athelas plant. I reached toward the leaves and plucked a few from the plant. Using the other ingredients for the remedy; tree sap, water, and pollen from a lily (which had taken me 20 minute to find), I finally completed the mixture. I pushed the bandages aside and rubbed the salve on my wound; being an Elvish remedy, it worked quickly. I instantly found it much easier to stand and the pain had subsided a great deal, though I could tell that I would still have to take it easy for a while. I guess I was just glad that I wasn't going to die. I supposed I could thank Edanir for this when I returned. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. As swift as a fox itself, I instinctively reached for my daggers; only to find that they were not there. As I was about to reach my hand behind my back to retrieve my bow, the person grabbed my hand.  
"Are you looking for these?" came a voice. I turned around to see a man, roughly in his 20's by the looks of him. He had blonde hair and a mischievous grin plastered on his face. In one hand he held my two silver daggers, and in the other he held my bow and quiver.  
" Auta miqula orq!" I hissed at him as I lunged for my daggers. He easily evaded me and I had to use a tree branch to stop myself from face-planting onto the ground. He looked confused as to what I had said; it appeared that he did not speak Elvish and thus had no knowledge whatsoever that I had just told him to go kiss an orc. "Who are you, why do you have my weapons? Speak, thief!" He looked at me with an odd expression.  
"You have no knowledge of yesterday, do you?" he asked me. I paused for a second, taking in what he had just said.  
"N-no, I don't." I replied, some of the anger disappearing from my tone of voice.  
"Ah, I see. Then I should kindly remind you that I was the one that carried you here, bandaged your wounds, and tended for you all through the night." I suddenly recognized him, he was the shape-shifting wolf boy that had jumped in and saved me and Audrien. I instantly felt ashamed that I had insulted my rescuer. I stared at him for a few seconds before replying.  
"Forgive me, I did not realize you were my rescuer. I am Ethelinn Galalinde, heir to the throne of Lothlorien; and you are...?"  
"My name is Sehun. You may remember briefly meeting a few of my pack-mates yesterday; you were awake last night but I doubt you were conscious enough to remember anything."  
"That would be correct, I do not remember much. I was traveling with another girl, one of the Rohirrim. Her name is Audrien Goldleaf. Is she here, is she alright?"  
"That's your first question? You don't want to know where you are, or anything of that sort? True companionship, indeed. To answer your question, Miss Goldleaf is awake, she is back at the camp. She suffered a severe blow to her leg, but we've been treating her and, though the pain must be great, she will be alright. Come, I'll take you to see her. Can you walk?"  
"Yes, I made a salve for my wound," I said, lifting up part of the bandages to reveal my quickly-healing wound.  
"I'm impressed, not even Xiumin can make a remedy that can heal a wound that fast, and he is our best healer. We'll have to take lessons from you sometime, your Highness."  
"There is no need to call me that when you are the one who rescued me. Just Ethelinn will do." Sehun nodded and motioned for me to follow him. We walked back the way I had come, passing the bed of grass I had been laying in previously and farther past a large boulder. Behind the rock was a large campfire with twelve tents carefully placed around its perimeter. They probably couldn't even be called tents; they were mostly made of sticks and large branches and leaves. However, they looked sturdy and well-made. Sitting at the campfire were eleven other men, all within about the same age range as Sehun, I guessed. Next to one of the men sat Audrien; she was still wearing her armor, thought she had removed parts of it for comfort. They did not seem to realize that we had approached the campfire.  
"I'm back. It seems that Miss Ethelinn here is quite the healer; she managed to make a salve that has almost completely healed her wound." the men turned to face me and Sehun. Audrien turned around and I smiled the widest grin I had smiled in a long while.  
"I'm glad you're okay, Audrien!" I said enthusiastically as I made my way closer to the campfire. Just then, one of the men stood up. He looked like the oldest of them, and probably had the most authority, too.  
"I'm glad that you have healed so quickly, Miss Ethelinn, Miss Audrien. I suppose now that we should introduce ourselves. My name is Kris." Starting with the man to his left, he named off each of the shape-shifters. "This is Chen, Chanyeol, Xiumin, Lay, Luhan, Baekhyun, D.O., Tao, Kai, and Suho." Each of them nodded or smiled as he acknowledged them. "I see that you've already become acquainted with Sehun, it could take a bit to get used to our names, as we are not from Lothlorien, as you might have guessed." Kris was right, never had I seen men with brightly-colored hair and such fair skin. Their names were even more peculiar; I had studied the languages of Middle Earth with Edanir, and I had never heard of any language that consisted of such strange names. I half-listened as they talked about who each of them were, but I was mostly tuned out. I had never been on a journey so strange as this... and this was only the beginning.

CHAPTER END


	6. The Backstory

Audrien's POV

I was jolted awake when I came back to my senses. I quickly sat up, only to have a sharp pain course through my leg. Hissing at the pain, I remembered what happened the day before. Was it the day before? I couldn't even tell. I obviously knew that it was late morning or early afternoon at least, but I wasn't quite sure where I was. It looked to me like I was still in the Lothlorien area, or somewhere close since the trees were similar to those in Lorien. I thought back to the orc attack that left Ethelinn and I almost dead. Where was she? Is she ok? Questions like these ran through my mind as I struggled to get up on one leg. My left leg was becoming too strained under the pressure of my body weight and my heavy armor. I kept trying to get up, only to plop back down on the forest floor. At least I had a soft patch of grass to land on.  
After sitting for a few minutes staring into space, I began to think about the incredible wolves that saved me. They were humans, that I could tell, but they had the ability to morph into a wild beast that kids would beg their grandparents to tell them stories about. I should know, I was one of them. I then began to wonder where they were. Did they leave me here to die? No, they wouldn't do that. They were kind enough to save our lives, so they shouldn't have left me here for long right? At least that young wolf with the brown hair, Luhan. I don't think he would be heartless to leave me out here for long at least.  
Right as I had that thought, Luhan appeared through the trees, walking over to me slowly. "How are you doing?" He asked. "Is your leg feeling a bit better?"  
I nodded. "My leg is fine, but I am finding it quite difficult to get up." I laughed.  
He chuckled in response. "Well, let me help you then." He walked over behind me and hooked his arms under my mine and pushed me up while I kept my weight on my left foot, careful of hurting myself again. "You got it? He asked when I stood up, gaining my balance.  
"I think so, much appreciated." I said, hopping around a little and getting the feel of getting around on one leg since there was NO way I could be adding weight to my right leg this early in the healing process. When I looked to Luhan, he had a worried look on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked.  
"Well, I am glad to see you awake and all, but maybe I should carry you back to camp. You can easily trip and fall over roots and hurt your other leg." He said. "We don't want that." He walked over to me, his arms stretched out to carry me like he did when I first injured myself, but I stopped him by putting my hands on his shoulders  
"There's no need. I can make it back to camp just fine, as long as you can show me the way." I said. I didn't want to feel like I always had to rely on others to achieve my goals. I can care for myself just fine.  
He looked to me with that worried face again before backing off a little. "Ok, fine, I just don't want you to get hurt again" He said looking down, probably embarrassed. But he then looked up at me before saying "Well we shouldn't waste any more time then, follow me." He started walking down a barely visible path, but I could tell it let to somewhere secret, and it has been tread on before. I wondered if Luhan walked on that path, continuingly checking on me to see if I had lost too much blood or died or anything. That would be very sweet of him if that was true, though. It's incredible that he can turn into a violent wolf but have such a strong and kind heart.  
"Just around this boulder, and you will meet the rest of us."  
I stopped. "There are more of you?" I asked, surprised that there were more than him, Sehun, and Kris.  
"Well, you met Sehun and Kris already, and there are about 9 more of us." He said with a smile, his cheeks pushing up so his eyes closed a little. "We have been together for a while now, like brothers."  
"Wow. Well, I certainly am excited to meet all of you then." I used the big rock to support my weight and watched Luhan join the others. They all were sitting in a circle around a campfire. I got a good look at all of their faces. They had different details about them, but they all looked to be in their 20's and they all had the same tan skin color. Kris stood up and walked over to me.  
"It's nice to see you awake and well, Miss Audrien." He said. "Let me introduce us. You know me, Kris," he put his hand on his chest, then gestured to the group of 11 other men. "And here's Chen, Chanyeol, Xiumin, Lay, Luhan, Baekhyun, D.O., Tao, Kai, Sehun, and Suho." They either waved nicely, smiled, or simply said "Hi." when their name was called. "We are called the Shapeshifters. It may take you a while to remember all of our names, since we aren't from Lothlorien." He laughed.  
"Its nice to meet you all, and I thank you for your worrying." I bowed my head.  
"It really is no problem, we couldn't just leave you and Ethelinn there to die." He smiled, then I remembered.  
"Where is Ethelinn? Is she ok?" I said, looking around for her, but she wasn't with any of the men. Sehun then spoke up.  
"She's asleep right now. I would rather you not bother her, since I am worried that it might disrupt her healing process."  
"Ok, I understand." I said, getting another look around. About 10 feet away from the campfire were 12 tents made of branches and leaves, but they were made skillfully and looked like they can handle any rain or wind.  
"Come, sit with us." Kris held out his arm to help support me, and I took it gladly. He didn't struggle under my weight on the way there to the others, and found a good place for me to sit next to Luhan. Kris helped me down, then sat himself down on the other side of me. The man by the name of Lay spoke next.  
"So you are Audrien Goldleaf?" He asked. I nodded.  
"That's me."  
"Tell us about yourself! We are a bit curious since we have never met a human before!" Tao said. The others agreed.  
As I told my story, a few of the Shapeshifters got more comfortable by laying down on the ground, and that motivated me to keep telling the story of my life, up to the point where I passed out on my way to the camp. Some of the reactions from my audience were "Wow." or "Fascinating."  
I also got a lot of questions like "Why join the Rohirrim at such a young age?" or "How did you think your mother died? Did you ever find out?" I tried answering all of the questions I could, and we discussed it for quite a while. Until I brought up the question:  
"What about you guys? Tell me about your kind, for I am curious to learn about you."  
Kris volunteered to tell the story. "Well, we are Shapeshifters. We have longer life spans than humans, but we don't live as long as elves. We also are able to turn into werewolves from a human form. We are all born with the ability but are not taught how to use it until the age of 5." He laughed, followed by the others chuckling. "Before the age of 5, we can sometimes become really hyper violent dogs that can accidentally kill someone if they aren't careful." I laughed, joining them. "But, we are trained and taught to only fight with claws, and to think of our ability as a gift. A blessing. We had a great leader named Jungbwa, but," He sighed. "There was a terrible forest fire that swept through our forests, killing all of our family members, and leader Jungbwa. We were the only ones who survived... Since then we stay hidden and move frequently, trying to survive through the dangers that Middle Earth might throw at us." He smiled lightly, trying to lift the mood. I nodded, understanding grieving with the loss of family members.  
"I can relate to losing a family member, but losing entire families is something I couldn't live with." I said softly.  
Luhan spoke up next. "We have learned to keep going no matter what the cost. We won't let the troubles of our past keep us down." The others nodded in agreement.  
"Since you live long lives, how old are all of you?" I asked.  
"We are about 20-25 years old in human years, but about over 100 in Shapeshifter years." Luhan said, smiling.  
We then went quiet for a while, learning about each other and what we said, then Sehun spoke up.  
"I am going to check on Ethelinn. I'll be right back." Sehun got up to leave, and the 4 or 5 boys who were laying on the ground were now taking a mid day nap. The group got quiet and calmly waited for Sehun to get back. When he did, Ethelinn was awake, well, and right behind him. "I'm back. It seems that Miss Ethelinn here is quite the healer; she managed to make a salve that has almost completely healed her wound." He said, a smile on his face.  
When I made eye contact with Ethelinn, she smiled and walked quickly over to me. "I'm glad you're okay, Audrien!" She said, wrapping her arms around me. I smiled.  
"I am glad you are ok too!" I shifted closer to Luhan and made room for her to sit. Then Kris introduced all of their names to her this time, and she introduced herself back to them. As they exchanged greetings, I looked to Luhan and smiled. He returned the smile and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I was beginning to like it here. These young boys can count as my second family.

CHAPTER END


	7. Campfire Songs and the Encounter of Ullr

ETHELINN'S POV

It was about 5 when I started to grow hungry. I wondered what there was to eat in this part of the forest, maybe some rabbits and deer at most. Then of course, there were always the delicious forest berries that grew here, too.  
"I think we should go ahead and start some supper; Chen, Chanyeol, will you go catch something?" Kris said. With grumbles as why they had to catch dinner and not someone else, Chen and Chanyeol skulked off into the forest.  
"I can collect some berries, if you'd like," I offered. Kris smiled, but shook his head.  
"We don't know which berries are safe to eat, we move around so much that we never have time to test them."  
"That's alright, I've been trained to identify thousands of plants, so I should be able to tell."  
"Well, in that case, I'd say go for it! Go ahead and take Audrien with you, I think we'd bore her to death if she were to stay here with us."  
"Audrien, care to come with me?" I asked.  
"Why not? I'm sure I could learn something about plants while I'm out there with you." she replied. After waving goodbye, Audrien and I headed into the forest. About 30 feet into the forest and I stopped dead in my tracks; I knew this place. I had felt so much fatigue from my wound that I must not have known where I was, but I could easily tell now. "Ethelinn, is something wrong?" Audrien asked, waving her hand in front of my face.  
"No... well, I know this place. I used to come here all the time when I was just a young elf, there's a large tree not too far away that hangs over a large pond. I would sit on the lowest branch of the tree that hung over the pond and play my flute. I can't believe that I didn't realize where we were!"  
"So, does that mean you know where to find some good berries?" Audrien asked.  
"As a matter of fact, I do. But first, there's someone that lives here that I'd like you to meet. He's been my best friend since he was little." I smiled and let out a low whistle. As if on cue, a black blur shot out of the bushes to our right. Audrien stepped back in surprise, but I held my arms out. Soon, a black sabertooth had landed on top of me and knocked me to the ground, nuzzling my neck and purring happily. "Meet Ullr, my sabertooth!" I exlaimed.  
"That's one hyperactive feline you've got there, how on earth did you manage to befriend him?" Audrien asked, stepping over to give Ullr a little pat on the head.  
"I found him a few years ago, he was just a little kitten. I was hunting in the forest and found him scared and helpless inside of a hollow log where he had taken shelter from the rain. After learning that his mother had been killed, I took him in. He usually lives out here, however, it's not often that he comes to sleep in Caras Galadhon. It's his nature, I suppose."  
"You really do have a way with animals, don't you?" Audrien chuckled.  
"Yes, I suppose I do! I just feel so bad for animals with no place to go, I take care of hurt animals all the time. But Ullr... Ullr is different. I might mention that Ullr is my registered spirit animal."  
"What's a spirit animal?" Audrien asked with a quizzical expression on her face.  
"When an elf has been brought up along with an animal since its birth, there is usually a mutual friendship between the two. If it grows strong enough, you may confront the council of elves and they will perform a blood pact with the elf and his or her animal. This bonds the elf and the animal, allowing the elf to channel his or her energy between themselves. With a special pendant, you can call upon your spirit animal at any time," I said, holding up a necklace that hung around my neck. It was an emerald gem encased in gold wire and had intricate carvings etched into the the metal.  
"That's pretty fascinating, you elves really do know what you're doing." Audrien remarked.  
"Yes, I suppose we do. Ullr will be a handy traveling companion, I've trained him in fighting. I had a custom set of battle armor made for him and enchanted so that it can be held in the gem of my necklace, I just chant a spell when I want Ullr to wear it. It's quite handy, I'm sure neither of us would enjoy carrying around an extra set of armor all of the time." Audrien nodded and patted Ullr once more, who was now fascinated with sniffing her armor. "Let's go collect some berries now, I'm sure that we'll be wanted back soon." We walked further and started picking some gooseberries we had found on a nearby bush. We loaded them into a satchel, which Ullr happily carried in his mouth as we made our way back to the camp.  
By the time we got back, Chen and Chanyeol had caught a few rabbits and a deer and were working on cooking them.  
"Ah, I see you two are back." Luhan said. "I think we should take our minds off of our worries for now, is anyone interested in singing a song or two?"  
"What about Hey Brother?" Kai suggested. "Kind of a tradition that we sing it, why don't we show Ethelinn and Audrien?"  
"Good idea," Baekhuyn agreed. Almost immediately, they started to sing.

Hey brother, there's an endless road to re-discover.  
Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

Hey brother, do you still believe in one another?  
Hey sister, do you still believe in love, I wonder?  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

What if I'm far from home?  
Oh, brother I will hear you call.  
What if I lose it all?  
Oh, sister I will help you out!  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

Hey brother, there's an endless road to re-discover.  
Hey sister, do you still believe in love, I wonder?  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

What if I'm far from home?  
Oh, brother I will hear you call.  
What if I lose it all?  
Oh, sister I will help you out!  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

I immediately started clapping, it was a wonderful song and I thought that it showed the bonds of the 12 boys. I looked over to see that Ullr had enjoyed it too, as he was wagging his tail.  
"Ethelinn, I know the elves are quite well-known for their music. Are there any songs you know?" Lay asked. I had to stop and think for a moment, I knew many songs and I was trying to think of one that might be a nice one to sing at the moment. I mostly knew songs in Quenya, the Elvish language, but I knew a few in English.  
"Yes, there is one song that I know. It is called May It Be, it's in Quenya and English."  
"May It Be? I know that song, it's originally Elvish but the song somehow made its way to Rohan a number of years ago." Audrien remarked.  
"I never would have thought that you would know the song, do you know how to sing it?" I asked.  
"Only the parts in English, I don't know how to sing the Quenya parts."  
"Well then, we shall sing it together! I will sing the Quenya parts, since you do not know them." I smiled. Without further ado, we began to sing.

May it be an evening star  
Shines down upon you  
May it be when darkness falls  
Your heart will be true  
You walk a lonely road  
Oh, how far you are from home

Mornië utúlië ((darkness has come))  
Believe and you will find your way  
Mornië alantië ((darkness has fallen))  
A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadows call  
Will fly away  
May it be your journey on  
To light the day  
When the night is overcome  
You may rise to find the sun

Mornië utúlië ((darkness has come))  
Believe and you will find your way  
Mornië alantië ((darkness has fallen))  
A promise lives within you now

As we finished, the shape shifters clapped with enthusiasm. We began to eat shortly afterward, and soon after that we settled down for the night. I knew that in the morning we would need to talk about something that I wish we didn't have to: leaving the shape shifters' camp.

CHAPTER END


	8. Midnight Talks

Audrien's POV

Listening to the Shapeshifters sing was unlike anything I have really heard before. There were 12 men singing and all of their voices blended wonderfully. When I took a moment to listen, one voice sounded different from another. Some of them liked to sing lower parts of the harmony, and others liked singing higher. But they all had moments when they looked to us, then to each other, then to the ground in concentration. But the whole time I could feel Luhan's eyes on me, but I only looked at him a few times. When I did, he smiled, and I would smile back. But I did it without thinking.  
When Ethelinn and I sang, our voices blended nicely too. I have never heard an elf and human sing before together, but I had a lot of fun singing with her. When we were finished, I told her that we should sing again, and she happily agreed. The song we sang, May It Be, was a song that my mother used to sing when I was young. I couldn't believe I could remember it after so long. All I could do was think about her. I really missed her. I wondered if she was in a happier place now, like in the Grey Havens. At least that's what they say in the stories.  
Throughout dinner, Luhan still had his eyes on me. I could see him out of the corner of my eyes, but I rarely made eye contact. Then I began to wonder if he likes me. I mean, it wouldn't be a bad thing, but I still had to be back in Rohan as soon as possible. And I could only think that King Théoden has sent some of the Rohirrim to look for me. During dinner, I had to forget Luhan for a second and I walked, or more like hoppled because of my leg, over to Ethelinn.  
"What are our plans for tomorrow?" I asked her. "We can't stay here forever you know."  
"I know." She said. She ate a gooseberry before continuing. "I think we should leave tomorrow. That is, if your leg is doing alright." She pointed to my injured leg, which was still wrapped in a bandage which was replaced a few hours ago.  
"My leg is fine. Besides, we need to head back to Rohan before any orcs or uruk-hai beat us there." I looked to Luhan who was eating a big piece of venison, which I thought was normal for a human-wolf creature like him, since he took a big mouthful of it. He wasn't looking at me, but I could feel a blush creep onto my cheeks. Was I falling for him? No, I couldn't be. But I was staring though, and he stared at me the whole night. And he did technically save my life, and checked on me when I woke up. Who knows how many times he was checking on me before I woke up? He must have really cared about me. But there's no way that we could be lovers. I am a human, and he is a Shapeshifter, plus he is one of the last of his kind.  
"Audrien? You're spacing. Audrien?" Ethelinn whispered, shaking my shoulders. "And are your cheeks red? Or is that the campfire?"  
I snapped out of my trance. She mustn't know. "Oh, I am fine. Just worried about tomorrow. King Théoden must have sent scouts to look for me by now. And he probably won't be expecting an elf to be with me."  
"Ah, I see." She said, eating another gooseberry. I then got up, rather painfully, and walked over to Kris, who was in the middle of a conversation with Tao, but he turned to me when I walked over.  
"Hello Audrien." He said with a small smile.  
"Hi Kris." I said. "Um, Ethelinn and I need to head out tomorrow." His smile faded. "I'm sorry, but my lord Théoden is probably worried that I have not returned by now."  
"No, I understand, it's just that I didn't expect you to leave so early." He said, chuckling. "But I would leave too if I was in a situation like yours, so I am not going to stop you."  
"Ok, thanks." I walked back over to Ethelinn and sat down.  
"Alright. We leave tomorrow at dawn, then travel as fast as we can to get back to Rohan, hopefully to not find it in ruins." I said  
She nodded. "Sounds good. We won't find Rohan in ruins. I promise." She smiled.  
I nervously smiled back. "There's still a chance."

That night, everyone was asleep, and some of the Shapeshifters switched to their wolf forms to sleep more comfortably, but I couldn't even close my eyes. I was so anxious about tomorrow, plus the way I feel about Luhan was not getting me a wink of sleep. I laid on a soft patch of grass looking up at the treetops, the streaks of light from a half moon filtering through the leaves. I rested my hands on my stomach, twiddling my thumbs and taking in deep breaths of the clean forest air. A small stream running across the forest floor could be heard. I just wanted it to be morning already, and I wanted to be back in a bed for once. I was sick and tired of sleeping on dirt, and I just wished I wasn't in pain. Then a familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.  
"Can't sleep?" Luhan's soft voice called out. I turned my head to the left where the Shapeshifter was sitting cross-legged 2 feet away from where I was lying down.  
I sat up and laughed nervously, then nodded. "Yeah. You?" I asked, blood rushing to my cheeks. I used my long blonde hair to cover my face so hopefully he didn't see.  
"Me neither." He quietly laughed along too. When I removed the hair from my face, I looked to him to see his cheeks red as well, and we both quietly giggled at the sight of each other's blushed faces.  
After a few minutes of awkward staring and silence, Luhan spoke up, bringing up an idea. "Hey I want to show you something. I just discovered it a few days ago when we came here to this camp. Since we can't really sleep, I'm sure walking around can tire us out." He smiled, got up, and stretched out his hand for me to grab. I let my palm slide into his, his fingers wrapping lightly around my hand. He pulled me up and a shot of pain quickly coursed through my leg, causing me to falter. I didn't want to make too much noise, so I pursed my lips and held my breath, thinking that Luhan would let me down, but his free hand latched onto my arm and quickly helped me up, the pain in my leg quickly disappearing.  
"You alright?" He quietly asked me.  
"Yeah." I chuckled. "I'm fine. Thanks Luhan." Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug, Starblossom burning against my chest. Thankfully it was under my armor so he didn't see. When I took a breath in, I noticed that there was a faint scent of the forest trees on the collar of his clothes. I knew it was the smell of different trees than the ones here in Lothlorien though. I wasn't surprised anyway since the Shapeshifters move a lot, but from what forest, I didn't know. But at least he didn't smell like wet dog. That thought made me smile.  
I then felt his arms wrap around my waist in return. "No problem." He whispered. "Come on, lets go before anyone wakes up." He clasped my left hand in his right before we started walking quickly into the forest, both of us holding back laughter.

"It's just up here." He tugged on my hand and lead me to a clearing where there were no trees, but a tall hill that rose up into the sky about 10 feet. I turned to him where he smiled and I smiled back, then I let go of his hand and climbed up the little hill. He was close behind and made it up the hill right after me.  
"Now look." He pointed a finger at the stars. "You see that constellation of stars that make a slim triangle? Or more like a fang?" I had to move closer to him to find it, but I saw it. It was a small shape, but I could see it clearly. "It is believed that that constellation was formed when the first few Shapeshifters were born thousands of years ago."  
I studied the constellation again where it was placed to the left of the moon, as if it was placed inside its arch. "Facinating." I said. I then showed him some popular constellations that the humans like to find in the night sky, and it ended up burning up an hour or two of the night.  
"We should head back and get some sleep." I eventually said.  
"Good idea." He replied. We hurried back down the low hill and headed back to camp, where thankfully nobody was awake, and nobody noticed we were gone.

CHAPTER END


	9. Departure

p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;"Ethelinn's POVbr style="line-height: 1.7em;" /br style="line-height: 1.7em;" /I stretched as I awoke. Casting a sleepy glance to my surroundings, I had to remind myself where I was. Not home in my luxurious, comfortable bed in Lothlorien with breakfast homemade by the servants, but in the same forest as yesterday. But I wasn't in a bad mood. The excitement of once again being on another journey was barely containable. No one else seemed to be awake yet, so I quietly slipped away to go pick my berries and hunt game for breakfast. I let out a quiet whistle, and Ullr came bounding out of nowhere to come greet me. br style="line-height: 1.7em;" / "Shh, Ullr! We don't want to awaken everyone, do we?" My light footsteps barely crunched upon the leaves as I swept through the forest, picking every berry in sight and hunting game for breakfast. As much as I loved animals, I knew that it was part of the cycle of life to hunt them as well as care for them. When I had picked a sackful of berries and squirrels (which was mostly what I could find in this part of the forest), I headed back. I knew that Audrien and I could not tarry here for long; we had an important quest to fulfill. I tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She jolted awake, as though she had been pierced by an arrow. "It's just me. We need to eat and get packed, then say goodbye before we carry on. As much as I'd love to stay, we cannot." She nodded slightly before pulling herself up and trudging to the site of the campfire. "Help me prepare these squirrels, we have 14 hungry mouths to feed before we leave."br style="line-height: 1.7em;" / "Right," Audrien said sleepily as she began to prepare the fire. One by one, the shapeshifters began to awaken. When they were all awake, we had breakfast, munching and chatting about the differences between our world and theirs. Before long, I realized that I needed to break it to them that Audrien and I had to style="line-height: 1.7em;" / "I believe that we have found good companionship here with you, shapeshifters. However, Audrien and I do have a quest to fulfill." I said sorrowfully. br style="line-height: 1.7em;" / "I, we, understand," Kris replied. "We have our duties also. Before you leave, we would like to present you each with a special gift as a token of friendship." Kris nodded to Luhan and Sehun, who stood up and walked to where Audrien and I were sitting around the campfire. Luhan had with him a small horn. It didn't look ordinary, however. As I looked at Audrien's gift closely, I could analyze that the horn was made from that of an ox, carved with intricate designs and coated with a glossy varnish. "This is a treasured horn that was made by one of our kind many years ago. It is now yours, and we urge you to use it when you are in times of dire need," Luhan said as he placed the horn in Audrien's hands. Giving him her thanks, Sehun then stepped towards me. He reached into a large satchel and selected a what appeared to be a miniature bow and quiver, both fitting in just the palm of his hand. Puzzled, I wondered if it was a decorative brooch to pin upon my cloak. Until he explained what it really was. "This, Ethelinn, is a magically crafted bow and quiver. Speak to it." I tried to look grateful, but my expression must have looked to confused to look even somewhat thankful. "You look quite confused, let me explain. When you speak to it, it will expand into a full-sized bow and quiver. All you have to do is say, 'Anta nin túrë '." br style="line-height: 1.7em;" / "Anta nin túrë..." I breathed to myself. It was my language, Quenya. It meant 'Give me strength'. "Anta nin túrë!" I said. Instantly the bow and quiver grew to their full size. I gasped when I saw just how beautiful they were. The bow was clearly made of Mallorn wood, I knew this thanks to Edanir's teachings. It had delicate and intricate carvings etched into it's jewel-encrusted wood. The quiver was made from the hide of an elk; one of the strongest materials. "Thank you very much, I will treasure it." I replied humbly, giving a slight bow to Kris and Sehun. br style="line-height: 1.7em;" / "You are most welcome. We do not want to delay you any more time, so we wish you a safe journey. One more thing; each of those gifts has a magical element to it, and it's up to you to discover what it is." Audrien and I exchanged a mischievous glance and chuckled before saying our final goodbyes to the shapeshifters. They never mentioned it, but I had a gut feeling about one thing: I was almost sure; no, I knew, that we would see them again, and it would be before our journey was over./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;"CHAPTER END/p 


	10. Leaving the Shapeshifters

p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;"Audrien's POV/p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" span style="line-height: 1.7em; font-size: 1em;"When I was woken up the next morning by Ethelinn, I was glad I spent all those hours star gazing with Luhan. It definitely tired me out, but I was /spanworrying that I wouldnt see him again. At least not for a style="line-height: 1.7em; font-size: 1em;" /span/p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" span style="line-height: 1.7em; font-size: 1em;""It's just me. We need to eat and get packed, then say goodbye before we carry on. As much as I'd love to stay, we cannot." Ethelinn said, shaking my shoulder. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes, looking around. The wolves were just waking up as well. Ethelinn asked me to help her cook breakfast, which I agreed./span/p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" When breakfast was made, and we were all eating, we were all fairly quiet, like the shapeshifters knew we would be leaving that day. Nobody said anything, and I refused to make eye contact with anybody, so I just looked down at the cooked squirrel and slowly took it apart, only needing 10 minutes to finish it all./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" Once we were finished, Ethelinn reported that we would have to make our departure for Rohan as soon as possible. "I believe that we have found good companionship here with you, shapeshifters. However, Audrien and I do have a quest to fulfill." She said making eye contact with each of the shapeshifters. As a response, Kris stood up, Luhan and Sehun following suit. Kris explained that he understands our haste, but he wanted to give us gifts before we left. Luhan had his hands behind his back. He walked up to me, his eyes locked to mine. When he stopped, he brought his hands out from behind his back, revealing a battle horn. It was made of the horn of an ox, but it had carvings around the horn with symbols I didnt recognize, but I didnt ask about it, thinking it was symbols of the shapeshifters native language. Luhan placed the horn in my hands, and it fit nicely into my palm. It had a glossy finish, and looked like it was made a long time ago, even though it looked like it was never used. Luhan explained it was in fact made by one of his kind a long time ago, and he wanted me to have it, thinking I could put it to better use. I looked up to Luhan after keeping my eyes on the horn, and smiled, thanking him for the kind gift. He smiled in return, and I attached the horn to the belt on my armor./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" Sehun walked up to Ethelinn placed a small bow and quiver in the palm of her hand. At first glance, I thought it was a brooch or a toy. But after Sehun told Ethelinn the magic elven words to transform it, my eyes grew wide as the small bow and quiver shifted into a full sized long bow and quiver. The bow looked to be made of mallorn wood, the rarest wood in the elven kingdoms, and Ethelinn was fascinated with its shape and the jewels pressed into the wood, along with intricate carvings. She was honored to receive it. /p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" After our gifts were distributed, Kris didnt want us to waste any more time, so we immediately went over to our horses, made sure we had enough supplies for the road home, and mounted, ready to depart. Before we left though, Luhan approached me./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" "Audrien," he started. I looked over to him and noticed his face was sorrowful. "Do you think we will ever see each other again?" When he gave me my horn a few minutes earlier, I remembered him explaining that I use it whenever I was in dire need. I looked to the horn, thinking if I was going to ever use it, since I knew what he meant by using it when I was in dire need. I looked back to him./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" "I dont know Luhan." I said. "I dont know whats going to happen." Tears started to well in my eyes, and I looked away, blinking the tears away./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" "Well, have a safe trip then." He said behind me after a long moment of silence. He reached up and clasped my hand, gave it a squeeze, then pulled away, and joined the others who were wishing Ethelinn a safe trip. Once we exchanged our farewells, Ethelinn and I hurried out of the woods, and away from the shapeshifters, possibly never seeing them again./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" ~/p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" Ethelinn and I tried riding as fast as we could through the forest without hitting any trees. I hoped we would be out of the forest the day we left, but as the sun went down and the moon rose, trees still surrounded us wherever we looked. We needed to stop and eat, then get some sleep. Ethelinn found a spot to rest that was under a tree that had thick branches, hopefully to shield ourselves from an upcoming rainstorm that she warned me about a few hours before. We unmounted, got out our blankets and food, and I grabbed our map to give us the right idea of where we had to go roughly to get out of the forest, and into the plains of Rohan./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" As I was studying the map, something moving caught my eye. It was a slow moving object, but once I looked closer, it was a whole army of something. I looked again and found it was the army of elves from Lorien that Lord Celeborn sent to Rohan. "Ethelinn look, its the elves of Lorien!" I said with a smile. She looked up at the marching elves and smiled as well./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" "Im glad my father was gracious enough to send that many elves to help out Rohan." She said./p  
p style="line-height: 24.479999542236328px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: #fefefe;" "I am too. We are going to need it." I said, looking back to studying the map. After mapping out our route, Ethelinn and I got settled down to sleep. As I laid my head down, raindrops started to fall through the trees. I like the noise of the rain. It calms me more than anything. So I smiled and I wrapped myself tighter into the blankets, the distant rolls of thunder and quiet rain lulling me to sleep./p 


End file.
